U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,380,117 and 4,164,808 show commonly used types of harness making machines comprising a conveyer having wire jigs thereon for holding wires in side by side parallel relationship with the ends of the wires extending to one side or to both sides of the conveyer. Wire processing machines, such as an insulation stripping machine or crimping machines are located beside the conveyer so that the wire ends are presented to the processing machines during operation of the harness making apparatus. FIG. 8A of U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,117 shows one type of wire jig and another type of wire jig is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,041.
A characteristic of the wire jigs referred to above is that all of the wires in the jig are clamped relative to each other and the wires cannot be separately presented to the wire processing machines such as the crimpers. In other words, the wires must all be processed or treated in a given processing station when the harness making machine is operated. Harness making machines of the type disclosed in the above patents can therefore be used to install multi contact electrical connectors on the ends of the wires only if the connector is of the "mass termination" type; that is, if all of the wires are connected to the terminals in the connector in a single operation. Harness making machines of this type cannot be used if it is desired to crimp individual terminals onto the wires or to crimp terminals of different types onto the wire ends. For this reason, harness making machines as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,372,041 and 4,164,808 are of limited usefulness and are not capable of producing many of the types of electrical harnesses which are commonly used, such as a harness composed of a plurality of wires having many different types of terminals crimped onto the ends of the individual wires.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of the improved wire jig and to the achievement of an improved harness making machine which enables harnesses to be produced having different types of terminals attached to the ends of the wires. The invention is further directed to the achievement of an improved method of manufacturing electrical harnesses.
A wire jig in accordance with the invention is of the type used with a wire processing machine, the wire jig comprising a frame having a wire clamping assembly thereon for clamping a plurality of wires adjacent to the ends of the wires in side-by-side parallel relationship so that the ends of the wires can be presented to a wire processing apparatus. The wire jig is characterized in that the wire clamping assembly comprises a plurality of individual wire clamps, each wire clamp being capable of holding at least one wire adjacent to its end. The clamps are arranged in side-by-side relationship on the frame in a stack so that wires held in the clamps extend laterally from the stack. The clamps are normally in aligned positions with respect to each other in the stack and are individually slideable laterally from the stack to extended positions relative to the stack. Each individual wire clamp has a first actuator engaging portion which is engageable by a first actuator for sliding the individual clamp from its aligned position to its extended positions and returning the individual clamp to its aligned positions. Guiding surfaces are provided for guiding the individual clamps during sliding movement between their aligned positions and their extended positions whereby wires held in the individual clamps can be selectively presented to wire processing apparatus.
A further embodiment is characterized in that each wire clamp comprises first and second clamping members which are movable with respect to each other between a wire receiving position and a wire clamping position, each wire clamp being receptive to a wire when the first and second clamping members are in their wire receiving positions and being effective to clamp the wire when the first and second clamping members move relative to each other to the wire clamping position. A further embodiment is characterized in that at least one of the wire clamping members of each wire clamp has a second actuator engaging portion for engagement by a clamp opening actuator to move the first and second clamping members relative to each other. The first and second wire clamping members may comprise first and second clamping plates in parallel side-by-side relationship, the first and second clamping plates having opposed major surfaces which have contoured wire clamping positions which clamp a wire therebetween.
A harness making machine in accordance with the invention is of the type comprising a conveyer which is indexible in a first direction, a plurality of wire processing machines located at spaced-apart intervals on one side of the conveyer, and a plurality of wire jigs on the conveyer. Each of the wire jigs is capable of holding a plurality of wires in side-by-side parallel relationship with end portions of the wires extending to the one side of the conveyer so that the wires are presented to the processing machines as the conveyer is indexed. The harness making machine is characterized in that each of the wire jigs comprises a frame which is fixed to the conveyer and a wire clamping assembly on the frame. The wire clamping assembly comprises a plurality of individual wire clamps, each of which is capable of holding at least one wire, the wire clamps being normally disposed in normal positions in which the clamps are in aligned side-by-side relationship in a stack. The clamps are independently movable from the stack to an extended position, an individual clamp in its extended position being displaced laterally of the stack towards the one side of the conveyer. Clamp moving means are provided proximate to the processing machines for selectively moving individual clamps to their extended positions at the processing machines so that during continuous operation of the harness making machine, the wires in each wire jig are selectively presented to the wire processing machines.
In accordance with a further embodiment, the conveyer has a plurality of pairs of wire jigs thereon, the wire jigs of each pair being in aligned back-to-back relationship whereby both ends of the wires in the wire jigs are held. The harness making machine has a second plurality of wire processing machines located along the second side of the conveyer, the second side being the opposite side to the one side.